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s. W. MAQUAY.

y PRIMARY BATTERY. I No. 368,099. Patented Aug. 9, 1887;

s. W. MAQUAY. PRIMARY BATTERY.

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No. 368,099. Patented Aug. 9, 1837.

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PRIMARY BATTERY.

Patented Aug. 9, 1887.

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yUNITED ST PATENT OFFICE.

SAMUEL WILLIAM MAQUAY, OF TEDWORTH SQUARE, LONDON, ENGLAND.

PRI MARY BATTERY'.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 368,099, dated August 9, 1887.

Application led April 14,1886.V Serial No. 198,848.Y (No model.) `Patented in England December 8, 18,85, 15,0l`;in France March 9, 1886, No, 174,655, and in Germany March 11. 1 886, Nos.37,933 and 38,439.

To all when?, it ,may concern:

Be it known thatI, SAMUELWILLIAM MA- QUAY, a subject ofHer Majestythe Queen of Great Britain, residing at 22 Redb'u'rn Street,

'Iedworth Square, London, England, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Pri mary Batteries, (for which Letters Patent have been granted to me in Great Britain, No. 15,040, dated December 8, 1885; in France,

N o`. 174,655,dated March'9,1886; in Germany elements, and in the manner of applying the 4tive elements.

exciting `liquids so as to produce the least amount of wasteV and the most powerful lasting effects by a small consumption ofthe posi- The positive metal may be composed of two parts of lead and ninety-.eight parts of commercial zinc coated with mercury and heated until the mercury is intimately mixed with each particle of the alloy. Although this alloy will give good resul'tsI nd by experi'- ment that still better results will be obtained by the admixture of asmall percentage of tin Vand mercury to the-'molten metal, as this will insure a more perfect amalgamation of fthe metals than if the mercury alone were simply coated on and the whole mass submitted to heat. I therefore prefer to compose the posi- 4tive element of about one part, by weight, of I nercury; two parts,'by weight,oftin; two parts, by weight, of lead 5 ninety-five parts, by weight,A of common zinc. The tin being rst smelted, the mercury is added and well mixed, and the lead,bei'ng melted in a separate ladle,is added and well stirred in. The zinc is melted in 'a separate ladle, andwhen at as low a temperature as it will properly melt, the composition is added and wellstirred in, so as to mix it complet-ely. 4It is then either cast into rods or rolled into plates and used in any convenient Shape.

When formedin the shape intended for use,

5o a convenient number of plates or rods are v dipped into a. bath of pickle madeV of tw'o parts of sulphuric acid in twenty parts of water and shaken until thoroughly clean, when they are 'at once plunged into a baih of mercury for a minute, taken out to drain, and submitted to a heat of .100o Fahrenheitufor tive minutes, when they are again dipped into the pickle and again into the mercury, and again heated until eachpound of metal has taken uprabout one-fourth ofvan ounce off-mercury, when it will be found that the plates,having become amalgamated with the mercury insteadv of simply plated, will require no further attention for thewhole term of their life, care having been taken that the tluidused to excite themin the cells does not become mixed with thefluid ofy For the. negative element I use, any convenient one-suchas carbon, platinum, &c.- either in plates or in any other form; but I dip a portion of such plates or rods into liquid sulphur, so as to leave a film of sulphur equal to from one-twentieth to one-eighth of the area of the plate or rod, orIplace broken grauules of sulphur in the'cells along with the plates or rods in the same proportion.. The sulphur is used to occlude the hydrogen evolved while the battery is at work. The water contained in the exciting solutions is decomposed by the electric current into its elements, the oxygen going to the positive plate, which, as is'well knownis gradually oxidized. The. hydrogen going to the negative element would, in the ordinary course,gradu ally accumulate thereon in the form of bubbles, and, being a bad conductor, the power of the battery Would-gradually be diminished. To avoid this the negative element is coated with sulphur, or sulphurin the form of granules is introduced, and this takes up the hydrogen and leaves the negative element free to act. As sulphur itself is a bad conductor, preferably only a portion of the negative element is coated therewith, although the entire plate may be so coated, if desired. Y Y

To clearly explain the constructionl of the battery reference is made to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this speciication, and in which-M ,IDO

3o venient shape, and each cell has a communica- Figure l represents a sectional elevation of the battery-box, showing the arrangement ot' the cells wit-h the negative plates in position; Fig. 2, a sectional elevation on the line a: x of Fig. 3, and Fig. 3 a plan view on the line y y of Fig. 1.

In the formation of the battery I use double cells, the inner one being ofany suitable porous material; but preferably its two walls are formed of a mixture of two parts of carbon in fine dust mixed with slip equal to six parts of the usual material of which cells are made, and baked at the usual temperature, but without the presence of air, so that the carbon is not consumed.

I find by experiment that if the cell-walls are made solely of carbon, difficulty is experienced in gettingthem to stand for any lengthened period. These porous cells, as will be seen in the drawings, are Aformed by two fiat plates, K, of the porous material sliding in the ebonite Vbattery-case A.

The outer cells, G, each extends under the respective cell or compartment K and upward at the sides thereof', and are made ofauy convenient material-such as glass, porcelain, wood, rbc.; but preferably I use vulcanite or ebonite, or any other such non-conducting light material. The cells are placed side by side, either in a circle or square, or in any contiou, H, from one to the other within about half an inch of the bottom, the dividing-wall through which the communication or passage H extends being thickened, thus making one part of the cell or compartment G shorter than the other part,as shown in Fig. 3, and this communication between each cell is so arranged that it can be closed or opened at will by means of the plungers E, which are located in the thickened walls and are arranged to open or close the passages H in the manner hereinafter fully described, it being understood that the negative cells have only a communication with other negative cells, and the positive cells can only communicate with the positive. This communication from cell to cell is made to enable them to be filled or emptied or iiushed out with water without interfering with or removing the battery-plates I J, and the arrangement is such that all of the said plates can be removed at the one operation, so as to clean or renew them when required. This I accomplish by attaching the tops of the plates I J, as well as the plungers E, to a top plate, D, of ebon-ite or other material, which may be lifted entirely out of the battery-case or may be raised slightly bythe eccentric C, the shaft of which passes through the battery case. When the ebonite or other plungers E are raised, there is free communication between the cells by means of openings H. Vhen the eccentrica C are turned down, the plungers E (the ends of which are preferably coated with an admixture of tallow and paraftine) close the communicating channels H and the plate D, which is provided with a suitable under packing, D, is also held firmly against the top of the cells and prevents the liquid from es caping during transport. The connections between the battery-plates are preferably above plate D, so as to be clear of the acids. Y

The solution I use for the outer or positive cell is one part of sulphuric acid in twenty parts of water. common salt, the solution being composed of the amount of salt that would be taken up by Water at a temperature of 60 Fahrenheit.

For the liquid in the porous or negative cells I may use any that will most readily ab sorb the hydrogen and prevent polarization; but I prefer when using carbon plates to use a solution of bichromate of potash, thirty-five to forty parts; sulphuric acid, ten to twenty parts, and nitric acid, forty to ftyve parts. By using this solution a very small proportion of acid fumes escapes and water is formed; but as a further precaution against the faint acid smell I place a small tray, B, made of ebonte, inside the battery-case and over the cells and plate D, and in it I place any absorhents which will most readily` affect the acid fumes or water. I at present prefer to use pieces of pumicestone steeped in strong sulphuric acid and mixed with some powdered sulphur,when all fumes or vapors are at once taken up if the proportions of the absorbents I may also use a solution of are properly regulated to' the size ofthe battery. The size of the absorbing-tray I find most convenient is one that will cover about two-thirds of the space occupied by the top of the cells. I form the battery of any number or size of cells, according to the work proposed Vto be done, and I make each set in a separate case for convenience of transport or for lighting table or bedroom lamps, 85e.

In the drawings a twelve-cell battery is represented; but I do not confine myself to any particular number of cells. This battery may be conveniently formed out ofebonite, all made in one mold, the cells being in four rows,three in each row, end to end, the side walls of the cells being about one-eighth of an inch thick, the end wall joining two cells together being {ive-eighths of an inch thick. In the ends 'of each cell and along the bottom I run two grooves, one-sixteenth of an inch deep and placed tive-eighths of an inch from each other. Into these grooves I slide the porous plates K and fix them firmly with an acid-proof cement. This forms the porous compartment for each cell. In the thickened portion of the ebonite cell I drill holes straight to within an inch of the bottom of each cell, and then with a cone shape for the next half-inch. In these holes I tit the plungers E, of ebonite, turned into a cone shape at the end, so as to fit accurately. I then remove the plungers and drill a hole, H, oneeighth of an inch in size, from one cell to the next, and when the plungers E are replaced they eompletely stop the holes H, as before described.

When the plungers E are held up,the screwplug M may be removed andthe cells charged IIO IIS

through the opening, while through the dis-y charge-pipes 'I (provided with the gage S) al1 the cells may be emptied and the batteryi flushed out.

Having thus described the nature of the invention, what I claim, and desire to secure b Letters Patent, is-

l. The method of amalgamatng a positive action of heat, substantially as described.

3. A positive clement for batteries, consist` ing of a metallic alloy and mercury forming an amalgam with said alloy, substantially as described. i l

4. A positiveelement for batteries, consisting of an alloy of zinc, lead, and tin amalgamated with mercury, substantially as described.

5. An electro -v negative element for batteries, consisting of a suitable electro-negative material provided with a partial coating of pure or uncombined sulphur, substantially as described.

6. A battery consisting of cells having compartments coutaini ng the positive elements and iiuid, and communicatingV directly one with the other by suitable passages, compartments containing the negative elements and iiuids and communicating directly one with the other by suitable passages, and means for closing the passages between the compartments,A substantially as described.

7.'A battery consisting of cells with compartments containing the positive elements and fluid and communicating one with the other by suitable passages, compartments containing the negative elements and Huid and communicating one with the other` by suitable passages, and plungers operating to open or close said passages, substantially asdescribed. 8*.'A battery consisting of a series of cells with communicating compartments contain-4 ing the positive elements, communicating compartments containing the negative elements, a top plate carrying plungers for opening or closing the communications between the compartments, and also carrying the batteryplates, and a tray for absorbent material above said plates, substantially as described.

In'witness whereof I have hereunto setmy hand in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

SAMUEL WILLIAM MAQUAY.

Witnesses:

PHILIP M. J Usrrcn, JAMES BoLns. 

